SAND MARTIN. 



HIRUNDO RIPARIA. 



Family PASSERID^E. Sub-family HIRUNDININ^E. Genus HIRUNDO. 

 Bank Martin Sand Swallow River Swallow. 



From all accounts, the Sand Martin seems to be 

 the last of the species to arrive in most parts and the 

 first to leave our shores. It is the smallest of all the 

 Swallows, and is much more local in its distribution, 

 though found throughout the British Isles. Its haunts 

 are the sandy cuttings and cliffs, particularly in the 

 neighbourhood of water. Its plumage is dull and 

 sombre ; the upper parts are mouse colour, the wings 

 and tail being darker; the under parts are snowy 

 white. Like its relations, it feeds upon insects. It 

 seems to have no song. 



On its arrival, the Sand Martin repairs at once to 

 its old breeding ground, the sand-banks and chalk-pits, 

 the old nesting holes being used to roost in at night 

 time. These holes are very numerous and close 

 together. The most numerous colony I can call to 

 mind that I am acquainted with is in the sandy cliffs 



